Share
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
SACRAMENTO — A state appeals court ruled that California can continue providing personal information of gun owners to researchers to study gun violence, reversing last year’s decision by a lower court judge who said such data sharing violates privacy rights.
Background of the Case
In 2021, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law allowing the state’s Department of Justice to share identifying information of more than 4 million gun owners in California with qualified research institutions to help them better study gun violence, accidents and suicides. The information — which the state collects with every firearm sale to perform background checks — include names, addresses, phone numbers, and any criminal records, among other things. Under the law, researchers can use the information and make their findings public, but can’t release any identifying information of gun owners.
In response, gun owners and organizations sued the state, arguing that the disclosure of their information violates their privacy rights. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal ruled to temporarily block the law last October.
Appeals Court Ruling
But on Friday, Nov. 17, a three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeals for the Fourth District found that the lower court failed to consider the state’s interest in studying and preventing gun violence in its analysis before halting the law. In the opinion, Associate Justice Julia C. Kelety sent the case back to the lower court and said the preliminary injunction must be reversed.
Lawyers representing the gun owners and firearms groups suing the state didn’t immediately respond to calls and an email seeking comment.
The ruling came months after a federal judge refused to block the law in a separate lawsuit.
Other Legal Challenges
The data-sharing law is among several gun measures in California that are being legally challenged. In October, a federal judge overturned the state’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons again, ruling that the law violates constitutional rights.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said once the data-sharing ruling is implemented, the state will resume providing this information to researchers.
“The court’s decision is a victory in our ongoing efforts to prevent gun violence,” Bonta said in a statement.
He added: The law “serves the important goal of enabling research that supports informed policymaking aimed at reducing and preventing firearm violence.”
Reaction to the Ruling
Garen Wintemute, who directs the California Firearm Violence Research Center at the University of California, Davis cheered the recent ruling. The center has been working with the state on studying gun violence.
“The court’s decision is an important victory for science,” Wintemute said in a statement. “For more than 30 years, researchers at UC Davis and elsewhere have used the data in question to conduct vital research that simply couldn’t be done anywhere else. We’re glad to be able to return to that important work, which will improve health and safety here in California and across the country.”
RELATED TOPICS:
49ers Rookie WR Ricky Pearsall Shot in Attempted Union Square Robbery
3 hours ago
Will Gov. Newsom Call a Special Session to Deal With Gas Prices?
3 hours ago
Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins
14 hours ago
Abandoned Poodle Mix Adam Survives the Wild and Seeks a Forever Home
15 hours ago
Top Brazilian Judge Orders Suspension of X Platform in Brazil Amid Feud With Musk
1 day ago
![Police officers secure the area and investigate the scene of a shooting at Union Square in San Francisco, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/31184052/piersall-shooting-1024x683.jpg)
49ers Rookie WR Ricky Pearsall Shot in Attempted Union Square Robbery
![Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at an event in anticipation of signing a bill on his proposed oil profit penalty plan in Sacramento on March 28, 2023. (CalMatters/ Miguel Gutierrez Jr.)](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/31175839/newsom-big-oil.webp)
Will Gov. Newsom Call a Special Session to Deal With Gas Prices?
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/16183042/Eagles-vs-49ers.jpg)
Bettors Banking on Eagles Resurgence, Cowboys Regression as NFL Season Begins
![](https://gvwire.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/28091346/082824-Lede-1024x576.jpg)